QuiQue's blog

The time has come that we are having to put the brakes on within ArtMetal. We've been around since the very beginning of the World Wide Web and the site is starting to show signs of wear. You may have noticed that you can no longer place images into your blog posts without having to resort to hard coding. You can still upload images and put them in the galleries of your choosing, but for some reason, placing the image does not work. I believe this started with the last php upgrade that was forced on us by our service provider.

This is a list of most of my larger metalworking equipment I have for sale. Some of it is practically new while other pieces are used. Everything I am selling does work. It may have some dust on it but it will clean up just fine. My shop has a partial dirt floor for cutting, grinding, and ease on the feet, but it does raise dust and that is why some of the equipment looks dusty.

Found this wonderful video describing the use of a most beautifully hand crafted metal device used for telling time in the 13th Century. The Astrolabe is something I think that some of you on ArtMetal may want to take a look at making using blacksmithing or casting methods. Anyway, I hope this video summons creativity and craftsmanship to some of you.

Tom Wujec reaches back to one of our earliest but most ingenious devices -- the astrolabe. With thousands of uses, from telling time to mapping the night sky, this old tech reminds us that the ancient can be as brilliant as the brand-new.

How is the arts & crafts industry in the US withstanding the recession of 2009? Here's a glimpse at the responses of four artists given during the 2009 CenterFest held in Durham, NC. The short film was created by Enrique Vega for a Vox Populi Interview assignment in his "Directing Your Documentary: Making Choices" video course taken at Duke University Center for Documentary Studies.

I'd love to hear how those of you on ArtMetal are withstanding the recession/depression of 2009. What are you doing to continue to make a living from your metal art?

BTW, our very own Kimberli Matin is one of the interviewees... tell me what you think.

I know I haven't been around ArtMetal for awhile and felt a need to communicate with the community on what I've been up to. Especially since I just finished witnessing a friend passing from this reality and watching how the local community responded to his passing.

Nicolas Monterroso Ramos, a friend of mine from Lima, Peru recently won first prize and 3,000 sols from Aceros Arequipas Regional Contest for best designed and forged decorative table. He sent me a link to his flicker web site which shows many of the processes used in making his wrought iron table. Nicolas has been taking the workshops I have given in the past in Peru. Not to say that I taught him everything he knows, because Nicolas's enthusiasm for the craft of blacksmithing has taken him to many different resources on the web to learn what he knows. Nicolas would be a part of our ArtMetal community, but has not posted because he doesn't speak English.

This is a 10 minute flash video on the fabrication and assembly of the main body of the chandelier. It's not easy to cram several months worth of hand crafted metal art work into a ten minute video, but I did it. It's action packed and fast moving. Enjoy

Previous episodes can be viewed by clicking the book icon (Guide and Details) below the video and select the chronological tab.

I recently finished my second blacksmithing seminar in Peru and wanted to share with you a video and photo album showing footage from the various workshops in Huancayo, Lima, and Piura. The video is also an educational video for beginning blacksmiths. It explains the processes I used to make the Nazca Lines Book Ends.

The blacksmithing courses started last week with a 3-day workshop in Huancayo, Peru. I thought I would post a couple of pictures of the first city I will be touring to give these workshops. When I first arrived to Lima, I spent three days with the blacksmithing crew of Aceros Arequipa making hot and cold chisels including removable steel handles. This was quite a task since we had to forge 34 chisels made of 1-1/2" high carbon steel all by hand. No power hammers! This task did help me train the smiths on how to effectively buddy forge with large sledge hammers. They also learned the process of heat treating and hardening the tools steel using magnets for temperature control of the hardening process.

This is a brief video of the completed Marsi chandelier. It shows the fiber optic lighting and some of the programmed modes included with the initial setup. Note that the color wheel is an LED main light which has the capabilities of displaying millions of colors.